I have been asked many times for my name, most
often by people who are confused to find it nowhere on my site.

I have explained this many times in emails, and
it's well past time I did so for everyone's benefit.

When I took my first baby-steps into cyberspace
around 1991, I soon came to share the generally benign view of
anonymity held by most people in what was then something of a
sub-culture.

I bore witness in those days to a couple of
nasty incidents wherein online conflicts became brutally personal
in the "real" world, and I heard of many others. It's
worthy of note that complete anonymity of both parties in such
cases might well have kept the damage largely within the universe
of electrons and microchips, to the benefit of all.

On the other hand, some hide behind their
anonymity in cowardly fashion, and use it as a shield against
consequences they should rightly suffer. People should be
accountable for their actions, and it can't be denied that our
mere technologic signals, perhaps seemingly ethereal and rather
divorced from reality, can nonetheless cause very tangible harm.

I've given the matter of anonymity a lot of
thought, and as I believe many good people have done, I consider
it solved thusly: it is more a good thing than bad. And, while it
is more a privilege than a right, it is both. Like any privilege,
it brings with it responsibility. Like any right, one is presumed
to merit its benefits and protections initially, but it is
neither inviolable nor absolute; especially when it has been
abused.

Ever since long ago, then, I have kept a
general policy that I do not intentionally publish personal
information on the public Net. I believe it wise and acceptable;
and I hope to help contribute to a general, cultural view that
holds responsible use of anonymity as no breach of manners, nor
of credibility or integrity.

Yet I have no wish to hide, nor to seem (or be)
a paranoid protector of my identity. I want to be accountable for
my actions, and I hold the cowardice and brutality I have often
seen crouching behind the bastion of anonymity in deepest
contempt. Such acts sully us all, and they compel decent people
to bring their seige engines to bear upon ramparts that should
provide a haven for the just, not a barricade against justice.

Therefore I make no secret of peripheral facts
about myself, such as my general location and my profession.
Quite aside from the fact I readily share my name and address,
and any number of personal details with anyone who actually needs
to know, I can be easily found by anyone who cares to take a
little trouble. I live in a small community, where I am known
personally to many and by repute to a great many more. One needs
only drive into town and ask a few people about "that
computer guy" and before long he'd probably have some kind
soul giving directions to my house.

All philosophizing aside, I like being known by
a descriptive name. "PCHelp" is what I do, and in a
very true sense it is who I am. These days, I give freely of
something like 20 hours every week to the hundreds, now reaching
into the thousands, of people who have sought my assistance. Such
work means far more to me than wealth or wardrobe. It comes
naturally to me, and I'm really very proud of it.

Also, whatever other aspects there may be to
myself or my life, it is fitting that my PCHelp persona should
stand on its own, separate and on its own merits. An alter-ego,
as it were, with a life and a meaning purely its own.

I like a world where there's a sense of
community, where people extend a hand where it's needed as a
routine act without thought of personal gain. I know that world
only exists if we, each individually, create it. One of my chosen
conduits for that creativity is PCHelp.